Celeste
by EmilyAdder
Summary: Celeste used the warehouse as a practice space, since the poles let her practice for her night job as a stripper. What happens to her when the warehouse becomes occupied with the beautiful Billy Russo? (Rated M for mature themes, no huge violence or sex here)
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! I'd like to preface this with an admission that the last time I watched Punisher S2 was when it came out, so there are gonna be some plot details here that are obviously wrong or off, please forgive them and enjoy

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I had found an abandoned warehouse on the edge of town a few months ago. It had everything I needed to practice, so I converted a room into my practice space, cleaning it up and installing a few mirrors.

I was a dancer, and most rehearsal spaces cost more money than I wanted to spend, so this was perfect for me. For a time anyway.

There was a bus that dropped me just 10 minutes from it and picked me up right outside my apartment. It was a long bus ride, 45 minutes, but I never minded, I just put in my headphones and had fun with my music. I headed straight to the back of the bus as per usual and relaxed.

A group of guys got on a few stops later and headed straight for the back. There were probably 7 or 8 of them, enough to fill the seats next to and in front of me. I pulled my bag closer and did my best to ignore them. It was hard to, they were loud, but I turned up the volume on my music and looked out the window.

The guy sitting right next to me caught my eye in his reflection. He was hiding under a hood, but his big expressive eyes pierced out through it, and even with the dirt in the window obscuring the reflection it was easy to see the sharp bone structure. It was also hard to miss the scars surrounding his features, which did little to hide how beautiful his face was, simply adding complexity to it.

That wasn't all I noticed about the men around me though. I had a tendency to move and mouth along to my music, to the point where it was something I did subconsciously at times, and it was hard not to notice them looking over me and the way my body moved.

I rolled my eyes, and looked back out the window.

When we got to the stop before mine I hopped up, sliding out around the man beside me quickly and ringing the bell as soon as we were past it, holding on to the pole by the door. When the bus stopped and the doors opened I jumped out, kicking my heel up with the music, and spent ten minutes walking in blissful peace to the warehouse, dancing the whole way.

That stopped real quick.

The once-empty main area now sported couches, a wall of masks, and guns, both on racks and strewn about on a few otherwise paper-cluttered surfaces.

I paused my music and slowly took out my headphones, taking it all in. Behind me I heard footsteps, and closed my eyes, turning around before I opened them back up to see the men from the bus.

"Fuck."

"What are you doing here?" One of them demanded.

"Would you believe dance practice?" I held my hands up in a shrug. They pulled guns on me. "Shit!" I raised my hands higher in surrender.

"I'll ask again missy. What are you doing here?"

"Okay I know I sound like a smartass, but I was being serious, I practice here. I made a studio space upstairs." I pointed up with one of my surrendering hands.

"Show us." The scarred man said, making me notice he was the only one who hadn't raised a gun.

"I'd rather not?" I tried.

"Show us the damn room." One of the others insisted, and I slowly turned my back to them, hands still raised, and led them upstairs, grateful I had put a curtain halfway into the room to hide what was on the other half. That was the last thing I needed right now.

They looked around a little, mostly keeping their guns on me.

"Doesn't look much like a dance studio." One of them said.

"Well it wasn't one until I found it. I just use the mirrors and the table for my stereo." I used my shoulder to nudge the bag resting on it, which contained my stereo, a fact checked by one of them after he yanked the bag off of my arm.

I rubbed my shoulder and looked around at all of them.

"Dance for us." One of them insisted.

I flinched a little. "I'd rather not."

"Excuse me?" He got up in my face, and I stepped back quickly, backed against a wall. "You want to prove you're a dancer so we don't fucking kill you? Dance."

"I would really, really rather not -" As I spoke the curtain was pulled back, revealing the floor-to-ceiling poles I practiced on. I closed my eyes and sighed.

I was tossed towards them, and stumbled a little. "Get to it!"

I stood still for a moment, looking over all of them, and noticed that this entire time the scarred man hadn't been moving, watching from a leaned place in the back corner.

"You're the leader here, yeah?" I guessed, receiving a nod from him. "Tell the rest of them to get out. I'll perform for you alone."

He stared into my eyes for a moment, making me start to shrink back, before he spoke. "Everyone out. If she's lying, she'll be dead before you can come back in."

They all kind of grumbled, but they left, and I turned my back to them to get my stereo set up and my heels on. The scarred man was silent, but he grabbed a chair from the side and pulled it right in front of the poles, front and centre audience.

I threw my long hoodie to the side revealing my sports bra and low-cut shorts, not as revealing as my usual work outfits, but in a situation like this uncomfortable all the same.

I was running through everything that could go wrong in my head right up to the moment I got in position. The song started, and I let it all fade away.

I was always more of an acrobat on the pole than a floor dancer, and today I clung to the pole like a lifeline, pouring all of my energy into flipping and spinning around it.

The times I made eye contact with the scarred man, he was watching intently, but I didn't see the desire I usually did in my audiences, a fact I pushed as far aside as I could so it couldn't throw me off.

The song ended, leaving me slowly turning around the pole upside down, and I hopped off and paused the playlist before the next song could start.

"You're safe." The scarred man said behind me, making me turn quickly. He was walking towards me now, leaning on the wall next to my stereo. "As long as you don't go to the cops, and you don't tell anyone about us being here."

"Deal, I don't have a death wish. Can I keep practicing here?"

"Sure. Make sure no one is following you when you come in, and while you're here avoid using anything that could track your location, phone apps or anything."

"Got you." I nodded. "Can you make sure no one comes in here?"

"No. More likely than not, you're going to be watched. Can you make yourself okay with that?"

"I'm watched every time I perform. I can deal with it. Reason I didn't want to here is because my life is on the line. I wasn't going to risk getting raped and murdered if I didn't have to." He nodded a little. "Can I get a guarantee on my bodily integrity at least?"

"If anyone rapes you, I'll let you run them through with a knife. Sound good?"

"Yeah I'll take that." I scrolled through my phone to find another song that I wanted to try and got back into position. "I'll let you get back to work. I'm sure you've got things to do."

"Not for now." He sat back down. "We just got back from something; we're here laying low."

"Right. Well, enjoy I guess." The song started and I was turning around the pole once more.

I kept practicing until my alarm went off to pack up, and I kicked off my heels, replacing them with boots and throwing my hoodie back on.

"You're leaving?"

"I have to go home and get supper. I'll probably be back Thursday." I packed everything into my bag. "See you around… dude." I shrugged.

I was nearly out the door when he spoke. "Billy."

I turned back to him. "Sorry?"

"Billy Russo. That's my name."

"Okay. See you around Billy." I waved a little, and left.

The other guys were all downstairs, and looked surprised to see me calmly walking out with my headphones in. I debated the safety of it, but couldn't resist and flipped them all a middle finger as I walked by, smiling a little as I slipped out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

I came back regularly after that. Now that the threat was mostly gone, I saw no real reason not to, and to my surprise I had no visitors in my space besides Billy, who would pull up the chair to front and centre and just watch me for a while before going off to take care of whatever business he had to do.

The first day I came back I noticed one of the guys start to come at me and another one hold him back, and a few days later I asked Billy if he knew anything about it. He told me that he'd vaguely informed them I was protected, a fact for which I was grateful, especially since they'd seemed to take it as a complete hands-off.

I got used to his presence in my space surprisingly quickly. He didn't leer, which helped a lot, and the first time I tried a routine that had me moving out further into the space with him there, he didn't try anything, so I opened myself up to working on all of my routines in the space, not just the pole ones.

One day he walked in and sat down halfway through one of my pole routines and pulled up his chair as normal, watching me with the same unreadable expression he always had.

"Why do you come in here?" I asked as I turned upside down, legs shifting around the pole.

He looked surprised I was talking, I'd been in here four days a week for two weeks and hadn't said much more than hello or goodbye to him in that whole time.

"You relax me." He said, kind of uncertainly.

"I relax you? Not the reaction I'm used to."

"What reaction are you used to?"

"The kind where when I move like this…" I flipped off of the pole into a hard grind, riding the pole like a dick. "… men start throwing money."

"You're a stripper?"

"What did you think I did?" I laughed a little, caught off guard by the innocence of the question.

"Just… normal pole dancing? You never strip in here."

"Because I'm not alone anymore. If you want me to strip, you're gonna have to pay me." I teased, twirling around the pole as I took my weight onto my arms to float off the ground, finishing the song off laying on my back in midair as I slowly spun around. I dropped to the floor and scrolled through my playlist.

"Why do you let me watch?"

"Wasn't aware I had a choice." I shrugged. "I don't mind you, you're not gross. Do you trust me?"

"What?" He looked confused.

"Let me rephrase." I hit play on the song I'd found and gently pushed him back into his chair, putting a finger to his lips. "Trust me."

I had done lap dances before, so this wasn't new to me, and I could tell from the understanding on Billy's face that he'd received a few of these before, nevertheless there was an electricity in the air that neither of us could deny. I closed my eyes and gave myself over to the feeling.

The song ended and I was an inch from Billy's face, both of us a little breathless. It took the next song starting up for me to remember where I was and get up to pause it.

"How was that?" I asked.

"You're good." He let his fall back to breathe a little before looking at me again. "Does everyone get a dance like that?"

"Lap dances are for paying customers only. That was new though. You have an energy I like."

"So do you."

"Do you still find me relaxing?" I teased.

"Well it's not quite the word I'd use anymore. Hypnotic maybe?"

"I'll take it." I smiled, climbing back on to the pole.


	3. Chapter 3

A few days later I showed up to work and my boss, the strip club's owner, pulled me aside.

"Heads up, you and a few of the other girls are going on a trip."

"A trip? Where?"

"A few guys came in and asked for a few of our best girls. It's not crazy private, they said it's a party. You know what to do, if it doesn't check out call the cops and get out of there."

"I know. How much did they ask for?"

"Just dances and then hanging out. I told them they'd probably want to just hire prostitutes but they wanted strippers and they were willing to pay, so I'm not complaining."

"Fair enough. How're we getting there?"

"They've got a couple cars. Stick two or three of you to a car, yeah?"

"Got it." I walked away to join the others that were going on this little field trip, and discovered that I recognized a few of the men as the same men who worked with Billy.

I cussed internally before walking over, taking my hair out of its pre-work ponytail and throwing it over my face, hoping that and the makeup I only wore for work would keep them from recognizing me, for a little while anyway. Long enough to figure out what to do.

Their attention was mostly on some of my coworkers for now, and I managed to dodge their attention enough. I talked to one of the other girls about what the plan was for the evening, and she showed me the playlist and performance order we'd been given, and I nodded and figured out my plan for the night.

To my surprise we arrived at the warehouse, and I could see there was already a small party starting inside. We were escorted to a side room with some tables where we could get changed and get ready, and we all chatted about our sets and what we were going to do, tossing ideas back and forth.

I was going up third from last, and when I told them what I wanted to do, they were all onboard.

I watched a few of the girls before me perform from the wings of the makeshift stage they had up, to copious applause and hollers.

I went up with a gown, long gloves, and a fan covering my face, and with a snap of my fingers the song started. When I lowered the fan to start singing with the music, I saw a few very surprised faces in the crowd, but pushed them aside for the performance.

It wasn't even a quarter of the way into the song when I stripped off the gown, earning me more than a few whistles for the lingerie underneath.

That led me out into the crowd, and to most of their surprise I was draping myself over and feeling up everyone in the crowd as I danced. They definitely weren't keeping their hands to themselves, but I didn't think they would, and fortunately they weren't too grabby so it didn't throw off the routine.

I spotted Billy in the back corner, watching me with some amusement, and I locked eyes with him for a minute and sent him a wink. I smiled as I moved through the crowd, making my way up to him and giving him a good look before making my way back on stage and getting back to the stripping part of the routine, throwing off the little rest I had on and throwing myself up the pole, working it like no tomorrow.

I finished to cheers, and walked backstage satisfied with my performance. I was putting clothes back on to head out, to "hang out" like the boss had told me, when Billy showed up at our makeshift dressing room's door.

Some of the other girls got to him before I did, so I settled on continuing to get dressed.

"Anything we can do for you sugar?" Candy asked.

"I'm here for her. Just want to talk to her for a minute." He nodded in my direction.

"Celeste! Tall dark and handsome visitor!" Star teased.

"Yeah, yeah. One sec." I adjusted my hair before striding up to him, and he moved aside to let me out, following me down the hall before taking my arm once we were away from everyone.

"Trust me." He insisted gently before kissing me, hard enough to push my head back against the wall.

My instincts listened to him, and I found myself kissing back, relaxed as his hands found places on my waist and in my hair.

He pulled away first, resting his forehead on mine, and looked into my eyes, both of us breathless again.

"I want you." He breathed.

"No." I sighed.

"No?"

"I'm working."

"If you weren't working?"

"I am."

"But if you weren't?"

I sighed again softly. "Probably, but not definitely."

"Why only probably?" He stroked my cheek gently.

"No matter how easy it is to push aside you still pose a threat to my life. If I go to the cops about you, or tell anyone about you, I'm dead."

"Do you want to go to the cops?"

"That doesn't really matter. Fact is still there that my life is in your hands, and not because I gave it to you. That makes things muddy." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, and I ran my hand over his cheek, tracing one of his scars, and he flinched away. "Sorry. Did that hurt?"

"No."

"Then why flinch?" I touched one again, making him flinch again.

"They're… well, I used to be so handsome, and then someone…"

"Hang on. Used to be handsome? Billy, you look like a Greek god, don't be so hard on yourself. Your face looks like someone tried and failed to deface a statue. You still look gorgeous. If you think that's why I don't want to do this, that's not it." He looked confused, and kind of lost, the normal unreadable expression on his face gone. "Billy, how did your face get like that?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Come with me." He led me upstairs to my studio and sat down on his chair. I pulled over another chair and sat in front of him.

"What do you mean you don't know?" I repeated.

"Do you know anything about me?" He asked.

"Should I? Besides what you've told me?"

"You might've seen me on the news."

"Billy, I haven't watched the daily news since I was 12 when my grandfather had it on tv, I'm not really up to date with the goings-on of the city. I get a curated newsfeed on my phone of makeup drops and a couple superhero shenanigans."

"I'm a wanted criminal. Very wanted."

"What for?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I lost my memory. The closest to the present I can remember is years ago, when I was still in the army. It hurts to try and remember any more than that." I could see that fact written plainly on his face.

"Then don't, not right now anyway. You look like it's killing you inside." I stood. "Do what I do, when life gets too much."

"What's that?" He watched me get up and hook my phone into my stereo.

"Move." I hit play on my feelings playlist and took his hands, pulling him into my arms and swaying with him. When he relaxed into me I started dancing, simple moves that he could react to instinctively, and I saw him let go of the world to focus on me. I reacted to him too, as he started to feel the music and move on his own, and we became one unit for a moment, moving in sync with each other.

He ran out of energy first, and I slowed to a stop, turning off the music as he sat down.

"Does that feel better?" He nodded. "Good." I came back to his side, and he pulled me in to kiss me. I kissed him back, sitting in his lap and holding him tenderly. It wasn't until I got a text from one of the girls saying they were leaving soon that I got up and left him to rejoin them, reassuring him I would be back the next day to practice.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day was fun. I walked in to find Billy and his crew just chatting around some couches, and I decided to join them.

One of them whistled as I approached, and I curtsied very slightly before leaning on the edge of one of the couches. "You boys enjoy the show last night?"

"Hell yeah. You and the other girls were a great time." One of them said, and the others nodded.

"I'll let them know." I smiled.

"Can you give the cute little redhead my number?" Another one tried.

"Not a chance, but good effort."

"You ladies all enjoy yourselves last night?"

"Well we enjoyed the paycheck, that's for damn sure. We'll do it again if you keep paying well." I got up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have practicing to do. That didn't all come naturally you know." I stood, walking away with a wave of my fingers, and I could feel them checking me out as I walked away.

The next few days I came in I talked to them more. I'd been there long enough that I was an expected normalcy, so talking to them didn't intrude too much.

They were all jerks, shallow and misguided, but after seeing me naked it seemed like they had more respect for me, somehow. I wasn't complaining, they'd occasionally toss me a bottle of beer, or a small bit of cash in exchange for taking off my shirt, something I played with later by coming in with three layers on. They'd keep paying until they saw my breasts, but it was a fun way to get some extra money for my trouble.

It was two weeks after the first night I'd been hired to come in that I came to practice and didn't find anyone in the main area. A little odd, but I shrugged it off and headed up to my studio space.

The curtain was drawn, and I pulled it back to see a man duct taped together and handcuffed to one of my poles. I slowly pulled the curtain back across and took out my headphones, walking out of the room.

"Billy!" I called out, wondering where he was, and a door opened a little ways down the hall. I went in to find him with some of the others, looking over a table of information. "Why is there a man handcuffed to one of my poles?"

"We had to put him somewhere."

"So you put him there?"

"Didn't know you were coming in today."

I sighed. "Clearly."

"Boss." One of them nudged him, then looked at me, and they muttered to each other just quietly enough for me not to make it out. I stood in the doorway with my arms crossed waiting for them to finish.

"Actually… you could help us out."

"How?"

"We're trying to get information out of him. He's not exactly complying."

"I've never tortured anyone before."

"Not what I was suggesting. I'm thinking of your other talents."

"You want me to pole dance on him?"

"I want you to seduce him."

I sighed. "You're paying me for this."

"Absolutely. Name a price."

"I'll name it when I'm done. What do you need?"

"A name. The name of his supplier."

"Fine." I walked out, stopping in the hall to come up with a plan.

When I had one I took a deep breath, changed into my heels, took my hair out of its ponytail, and got rid of my jacket.

As I walked into the room I could hear them following me in to observe, and took another breath before slipping in through the curtain.

I bounced over to the man tied to my pole and bent over to rip the tape off of his mouth. "Hi there!" He looked very confused, a fact I was banking on. "Sorry about all this, you know, boys will be boys. See, they told me that you're not playing nice, so they asked me to come in and… well, I wasn't really paying attention, but they want a name from you. You don't want to get hurt do you?"

He shook his head quickly.

"Good! So here's how this is gonna go. All I want you to do is tell me the name. Just whisper it in my ear. They said I could rough you up a bit, but I don't really want to. That sounds so messy. So…" I straddled his lap. "Let's have some fun instead. You want to have fun with me?"

He looked over my almost-naked body, and I could see desire in his eyes.

"That's it. Take a good look. You could let them do it their way, or you could just have fun with me. All you need to do is tell me the name." I leaned in to his ear, not-so-subtly moving my breasts right into his face. "It's only one little name. Just tell me, and you can do anything you want to me."

"Anything?" He finally spoke.

I grinned. "Anything you want. Just say those magic words." He looked me over again, and I slid a hand between his legs.

"John."

"John what?" I murmured.

"No no, no more out of me until I get what I want."

"And what is it you want?"

"I want you to dress up like a little kid."

That was my cue to switch tactics.

"Hard way it is." I grabbed his head and slammed it into the pole before pinning it to the floor under my shoe. "Give me the name."

"Jesus! I liked you better before!"

"Too bad you fucking creep. Give me the name."

"Or what?!"

"Or I'll take a knife and start cutting. Might start with your fingers. Might start with your dick. Either way I'll make sure to cut nice and slow. What's it gonna be?" When he didn't reply, I pressed my heel into his head harder.

"Okay, okay! James Manser!"

"You're sure about that?"

"I'm positive! Christ, don't hurt me!"

I got off of him, giving him a kick for good measure, and strolled past the curtain, noticing everyone positioned by the holes in it.

"That good enough?" I asked Billy.

"More than. Here." He passed me a stack of bills that I looked over and guessed to be about a grand. "That good?"

"Plenty. Get him out of my space. I'm gonna have to spend the day disinfecting it."

"Go relax downstairs for a bit, we'll take care of things here."

I nodded thanks and strode off, collecting my jacket from the hallway and going downstairs.

I put the money in my bag, and after sitting around for ten minutes waiting I got bored and hopped up on the stage they'd made up, getting my stereo out and playing a few of my old favourites on low to mock out the routines, just to get my body moving.

When they still weren't back, I put on a new song and started mocking out the bits I'd figured out so far, rewinding over and over as I refined it down.

I was pushing my hair out of my face in frustration as the choreo wasn't coming together when I saw Billy watching me from the upstairs office window. I got back to it, and a minute later he came down.

"You look tense."

"I'm getting easy to read." I said in the middle of a move, sighing and giving it up.

He climbed up on the stage and moved behind me, rubbing my shoulders. "What's got you frustrated?"

"The choreo isn't working out, I can't pin it down." I sighed. "And I hate people like that."

"What, that piece of shit upstairs?" I nodded. "Why?"

"My best friend in elementary school was abused by our grade 5 teacher. She killed herself over it before she could turn 13. It took him doing it to three more kids before anyone clued in and did something about it."

"God. Is he in jail?"

"Better. Punisher killed him. He's probably the only justice this city has anymore."

"Punisher? Who's that?"

"He was running around New York for a while. Some ex-military guy like you guys, just went around murdering criminals. Had fights with Daredevil I think? Not sure, he got caught, the whole trial and everything was on the news, he broke out of jail in like a giant murder spree apparently. Guy runs around with a skull on his vest."

By now I'd relaxed a little into Billy's arms, so I felt him tense when I said skull.

"He wears a skull on him?"

I nodded. "Yeah. You okay?"

"I… have nightmares about what happened to me. The scars. This whole time all I've been seeing is a floating skull."

"If Punisher came after you and left you like this, you did some serious shit. He's famous for killing criminals, not defacing them. You had to have pissed him off hard."

"You said he was ex-military? You remember his name?"

"Rook? No… Castle, maybe."

He froze completely. "Frank?"

I turned to face him. "You knew the guy?"

"He was my brother in arms. Frank Castle was probably one of the only people I ever really cared about."

"I'm probably just misremembering the name-"

"Find it."

"Okay! Okay." I pulled out my phone and searched for articles about the trial, holding my hands up in surrender when Billy snatched my phone out of my hands, staring at the picture of the Punisher on the first article I'd pulled up.

"It's your guy isn't it?" I asked softly.

Billy was shaking, just staring at the skull in the picture. I reached out and very gently touched his arm, and when he didn't react I slid my arms around his waist, pressing myself against his back.

"How could he do this to me?"

"He never went after someone who didn't deserve it Billy. You're missing a big chunk of your life, right? Past few years? Maybe you did something to him."

"I don't understand."

"Look through this stuff. Maybe… maybe there's a clue in there about what could have happened between you two."

Billy's only response was to shove my phone at me and walk away.

I took that as my cue to leave for the day and went back home.


	5. Chapter 5

I avoided coming in for the next couple days. It wasn't extremely conscious, but whenever I thought about going in, I just decided not today.

It had been a week when I came back to my apartment to see someone sitting in the shadows of my living room. I acted like I hadn't seen them and went to the kitchen, grabbing a knife before slowly edging up to the doorway of the living room.

I walked in and turned on the light, discovering that the shadowy figure had gotten up and moved much closer to the doorway, and in a second I was pinned against the wall with a hand over my mouth to cover my scream, the other hand wrenching away my knife.

"It's just me!" Billy insisted, staring into my eyes. "Calm down, it's just me."

Once I started breathing a little more normally he took his hand off of my mouth, and I sighed.

"Jesus. What the hell were you doing just sitting in the dark waiting for me like that? I was about to stab you!"

"You didn't come back to the warehouse. I was worried about you."

"I needed a break. You seemed like you needed space, I didn't want to push it. I picked up a few more nights working anyway. How did you find me?"

"I talked to your boss."

I sighed. "I'm gonna have to talk to him about giving my address away to random strangers."

"Don't be too hard on him. I had a gun and a grand in cash."

I facepalmed and went into the living room to sit down.

"When were you going to come back?" Billy sat on the arm of the couch next to me.

"Soon probably. I didn't have any hard plans." I shrugged.

He tenderly reached out and stroked my shoulder. "I miss watching you."

I sighed and closed my eyes, relaxing into his touch. "I miss it too."

"You make me feel alive. Connected. Emotional."

"You say that like you don't feel it normally. The amnesia?"

"Maybe. I don't remember caring about people much. The closest thing I have to you is… was Frank, but it's not quite the same."

"Well you've paid me to seduce and torture information out of people and strip for you and your friends, it's a weird relationship."

"You don't understand it either, huh?"

I shook my head. "If I listen to my brain, it's professional. You've hired me for things, that's all it should be. Then my gut is saying you're dangerous, if anything went bad you could just… kill me. My heart though… my heart is a bitch."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. All I'm hearing there is "he's the one" and "dance away into the sunset" like I'm living a goddamn movie."

He smiled a bit. "That all sounds about right. There's something at my core that just… draws me to you. It has ever since I first saw you dance."

"You are not the first person to tell me that. You are the first person to tell me that without that first time involving me being naked though, so that's something."

"You do look great naked."

"Trust me, I know." I smiled a little.

"The things I want to do with you." He murmured.

"Name a few." I relaxed a little more into him, and he started rubbing my shoulders a little more properly.

"Bring you home, carry you inside. Pressing you up against every wall of this place. Kissing every inch of your body -" My phone started ringing and I jumped a mile, taking a breath to calm myself before picking it up.

"Hello?"

"Just wanted to give you a heads up, one of those guys who hired you guys for that party that one time came in and wanted your address."

"Yeah, I know, he's here already."

"Everything okay? Need me to call the cops?"

"No I should be fine. Don't do it again though?"

"You gotta understand, the man was very persuasive."

"So he told me. Listen, while I've got you on the line, I ran into Candy today, she said she'd been looking for someone to cover her tomorrow night. I can do it, I've got a routine that would fit her style."

"Alright, I'll pen you in for it."

"Thanks. See you then boss." I hung up and set my phone aside, collapsing back on Billy's lap.

"Work?" He guessed, and I nodded. "A bit late on the timing there."

"No kidding." I sighed.

"He interrupted a perfectly good fantasy." He ran his fingers through my hair, and I hummed a little. "You like that?"

"It's relaxing." I closed my eyes. "It helps with getting over the nerves. You know, from thinking my apartment had been broken into."

He chuckled softly. "Sorry about that. I was worried about you. I was going through some of your things when you came in."

"What'd you find?"

"Not much. You're not one for keeping personal documents around, are you?" I shook my head. "I did find your shoes though. How many do you have?"

"11 pairs last count. 10, I had to throw out a pair of work heels. I've got winter boots, rain boots, ankle boots, sneakers, two pairs of flats, my summer wedges, and then three work heels."

"You know that right off the top of your head."

I shrugged. "It's a gift."

He laughed a little and continued playing with my hair.

We talked a little more, he asked about work and my life besides that, but he was putting me to sleep playing with my hair.

I remembered him picking me up and bringing me to my room, and mumbling to him quietly.

"Are you gonna have your way with me?"

'Nah. I like them conscious. I'll get you next time." He kissed my hand.

I was asleep before it even dropped to the bed.


	6. Chapter 6

I decided to come in the next day like I'd said I would, and Billy was there. He had to work on something not too long after I arrived, but he kissed me and watched me run through a set and tweak it a little.

After that I came back to my regular schedule. I saw Billy less, they were planning something big, but he'd always make time to come in and watch me for a while.

I had a couple days off so I came in one day, on a day I normally didn't since I'd be working, and found the place looking pretty empty.

After running through a few sets my curiosity got the best of me. That was my first mistake.

I started looking around the warehouse, looking at the weapons and blueprints they had scattered around. I noticed their masks were gone, and made a note of it before moving on.

I heard a noise downstairs, and decided to go down and take a look. That was my second mistake.

I saw movement and followed it, staying back a little in case it wasn't them. I'd never been in the basement, so I got lost pretty quickly, just following the dark shape of whoever was ahead of me. He ducked into a door, and I followed him in from a distance.

We were in a hallway, with doors at either end, and vents in the ceiling. He was already at the other end of the hall, moving through the closing door, and I saw a flash of the Punisher skull on his chest as he turned, right before the door closed.

"Wait-" I ran up to the door to find it locked. Confused, I went back and checked the other door. Also locked.

I ran back to the first door and rattled it a little, just as I noticed smoke starting to pour out of the vents.

When I started coughing I banged on the door. It had a window, and I saw the Punisher turn around and notice me, staring in confusion, probably wondering what the hell this random blonde was doing behind him.

"Help!" I banged on the door rapidly. When he didn't move I hit it harder. "Help! Punisher!" The smoke was getting thick now, and I was starting to seriously get scared.

He looked between the door ahead of him and back to me, and after a moment's hesitation he ran to my door, trying it from his side, only to find it still locked.

"Get down!" He yelled, aiming his gun at the window, and I ducked just as he started shooting. To my dismay, the bullets didn't break through, and I stood back up, starting to feel weak.

"Help, please!" I banged on the window again, though with much less energy. My eyes were starting to drift closed when I saw Billy come through the door on the other side of the glass.

His eyes were locked on the Punisher, and I gave it one last burst of effort.

"Billy! Billy help! Please!" I screamed, taking the last of my energy, and it wasn't much longer before I collapsed, conscious but fading out fast.

The door swung open and I was pulled out quickly, laid on the ground with Billy's arms around me.

"Breathe, you're okay. Breathe dammit." He tried coaxing me. I just didn't have the energy, and closed my eyes.

"God damn it, come on!" He yelled, and when that didn't get me to move I felt him start pushing air into my lungs, sucking out the smoke.

I coughed, convulsing a little, and he pulled me into his arms. "Stay right here. You're gonna be fine."

"Huh?" I mumbled as he lowered me back to the ground, looking between me and the Punisher, who for his part was looking between me and Billy.

They stared each other down long enough for me to pass out.


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up in the hospital, with a nurse checking something or another on me and a police officer sitting in a chair nearby. They both snapped their attention to me when I started coughing.

"How're you feeling lovely?" The nurse asked.

"Sore. What happened?"

"You were poisoned. You're going to be perfectly fine, your system is clearing everything out now, you'll just need to stay in the hospital for another few days."

I sighed and nodded a little.

"Can I have a few words with her?" The cop asked the nurse, and he nodded and left. The officer stood and came to my side. "Celeste, right? Can I call you Celeste?"

"Sure. It's my name, might as well." I shrugged, sitting up a little. "What's this about?"

"You were found at the scene of a triple homicide. I just have a few questions for you."

"Oh my god. Who died?"

"Some working girls, prostitutes. Did you come there with them?"

"No, I came alone. What were working girls doing there?"

"Your guess is as good as ours right now Celeste. That's why I'm talking to you. Now, have you had any recent contact with the Punisher?"

"I mean, yeah, when I got poisoned- wait, do you think he killed them?"

"That's where all of the evidence points."

"He wouldn't. That's not what the Punisher does, that murder spree he went on months ago, he didn't touch a single prostitute, he just killed the pimps -"

"We know that, but we have to stick to the facts. Let's start with you. What were you doing there?"

"I use one of the rooms in the warehouse for dance practice. No one uses that side of the warehouse."

"Walk me through what happened."

I sighed, debating how much I really wanted to reveal to this guy.

"I thought I saw someone going downstairs. I… never really see anyone there, I got curious. Turns out it was the Punisher. I followed him downstairs, and I got locked in a… hallway death trap? The doors on either end of the hall locked, Punisher made it out in time. I didn't. There was smoke coming from the ceiling, and I started blacking out and coughing and all that. Punisher tried getting me out, he shot up the door but it didn't break or anything. I remember… someone pulling me out. It's all kind of fuzzy, but it felt like someone was blowing air into me. Then I passed out."

"You didn't see anyone else there?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so, but Punisher seemed to be having a hard time getting me out of the room. I wouldn't be surprised if someone helped him, or unlocked it, or something." He nodded, writing all of this down in a little notebook. "It was just Punisher and those three girls there?"

"There's evidence of some fighting, so we're guessing there were other people there, but for now we don't know who they would be. Do you have any idea?"

I pretended to think about it for a minute, then shook my head. "The couple times I looked around the rest of the warehouse it looked like other people used it, but we were never there at the same time."

He wrote that down as well. "Alright. That should be all."

"What happened to the Punisher? Did you guys arrest him?"

"He was injured pretty bad, he's here in the hospital for the time being."

"Can I talk to him?" I sat up.

"You'd have to talk to a doctor first, to see if you're up for it, but I might be able to get you in to see him."

"Could you? I just want to talk to him about what happened."

"I'll see."

"Thank you." I gave him a sweet smile, and when he left I sighed and collapsed back on to the bed.


	8. Chapter 8

The doctor insisted I needed to rest for the rest of the day, but I could get up and see Punisher the next day if I felt well enough, which I did.

I was escorted to the room by a nurse, and let in by a police guard.

"Do you want me to come in with you ma'am? He is strapped down, but I can stay in the room if you're still worried."

"That'll be okay, thanks." I smiled a little, stepping slowly into the room.

"We'll be right outside the door if you need us."

I nodded thanks and gently shut the door behind me, slowly walking up to his bedside. "You're… actually the Punisher."

He nodded slowly, looking me over. "You don't look like you're here to kill me."

"I'm not. I just want to talk." I pulled a chair up to his bedside and sat down. "Thank you, first of all, for trying to save me. And for killing the teacher that drove my friend to kill herself when we were kids, you didn't do that for me but it's appreciated nonetheless."

He nodded a little. "What do you want?"

"To understand. What happened, all of it. Why you tried to deform Billy's face, why you were there at the warehouse."

"Who are you?"

"A concerned party."

"You're going to have to tell me more than that."

I sighed, and ran my hand through my hair. "Okay. My name is Celeste, I'm a stripper, I was using the warehouse as a place to practice before Billy and his guys started using it. He let me keep using it as long as I didn't rat them out to the cops. He started showing up to watch me practice, and we… got close. Really close. He's really vulnerable, with me, sometimes. He's got a lot going on, and… we just have really good chemistry. But then he's also paid me to seduce information out of a guy that turned out to be a child predator and then may or may not have killed him after, so it's a confusing relationship. That enough for you?"

He nodded, looking a little surprised, but he seemed to just roll with it. "Why were you following me?"

"Dumb curiosity. I'm an artist, smarts were never my strength." He exhaled in what I took as a laugh. "Why were you there?"

"Russo needs to be put down."

"Okay, rewind then. I want to know this story from the start. Billy told me you two served together. He said you were his brother-in-arms."

He sighed. "He was."

"That's the last he remembers. What happened?"

"He took a deal. We both did, but he took it harder. Doing black ops shit. Things that aren't even on paper, overseas. He went corrupt, I didn't. When I got back, the people that got him killed my family. He knew about it."

"Oh shit." I covered my mouth in shock.

"Yeah, shit. I found out. He tried to kill me a few times too. When I finally got him… it didn't feel like enough to just kill him. I wanted to break him for what he did to my wife, my kids."

"So you tried demolishing his face." I guessed.

He nodded. "He was always so cocky about his looks, it was the one thing he said he had going for him."

"So you put him in the hospital, then what?"

"Tried laying low. That failed pretty badly, and Bill started acting up again. Feds got in touch to bring me back into the picture. To take him out for good." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "Not what you wanted to hear I'm guessing."

"I was kind of hoping Billy just jaywalked one too many times. Shit… you know he knew about your family?"

"He looked into my eyes and said so. Said if he'd been there, he wouldn't have missed shooting me too."

I groaned and let my head fall back for a minute, eyes closed. "God damn it Billy."

"I'm not going to let you stop me from killing him, if you're here to try."

"I never thought I could. Just… damn it. He doesn't remember any of this. As far as he's concerned, he was a normal ass marine who was best friends with you just last month and now you want to kill him for something he doesn't even know he did. I was there when he found out you were the one who tried to wreck his face. He was devastated, it was like his heart was breaking right in front of me."

"That doesn't take back what he did."

"Not for you. But when you broke him, you made him the person he used to be. A person that never did anything to your family, never betrayed you, hell, never did any black ops shit. You made him that by attacking him, consciously or not."

"You wouldn't understand."

"No I wouldn't. Here's one thing I do understand though. The human brain has big problems processing trauma. People can black out whole memories so the brain can just process life normally without having to account for that trauma. When you attacked Billy, he was finally confronted with every terrible thing he ever did to you, someone that from what I've seen he really cared about. Maybe his brain couldn't handle facing it all at once, and took him back to the last time he remembers being a good person so it didn't have to deal with the trauma of what he did to you."

"That doesn't change what I need to do. He's still out there hurting people. I'm going to put him down."

I sighed and leaned back in the chair. "Why couldn't his nemesis have been the red one who doesn't kill people?"

"Red's not the kind of guy to handle problems like this."

"At least he wouldn't kill him." I rubbed my face a little. "Sorry. I know you have to do what you have to do, I just… don't want you to. Please don't blame me if I convince him to flee the country."

"Wherever you take him, I will follow."

"Of course you will. At least it buys time."

"Castle, you didn't kill them-" A woman who looked like she was a cop walked into the room, stopping when she saw me. "Who's this?"

"Bill's new woman. Madani, Celeste. Celeste, this is Madani, the fed who brought me back. She was involved in Russo's case before he lost his memory."

We looked at each other, neither of us moving to shake each other's hands.

"You said he didn't kill them? I asked after too long of a silence. "Do you mean the girls?"

She nodded, and came to Castle's other side. "Forensics prove it. They were shot execution style, shots were almost point blank to the head. It had to have been Russo."

"Hang on, Billy wouldn't do that. His guys, I don't know, but he wouldn't just execute innocent women."

"He did." Castle insisted. "Celeste, this really is beyond you. You should go." I sighed, and got up. "Oh, and if you see him? Tell him I've got a bullet with his name on it waiting for him."

"He knows." I walked out.


	9. Chapter 9

I was released from hospital a day later. I debated going back to talk to Castle, but decided there was no point.

The cab I called pulled up and to my surprise and concern it was one of Billy's guys driving.

"This isn't a coincidence is it?" I guessed.

"Get in." He ordered, and I obeyed, climbing in the backseat and texting my boss and coworkers an update that I was out of the hospital and headed home soon.

We drove to a surprisingly nice part of town, and he dropped me outside of a swanky-looking apartment building and gave me a unit number to head to.

I slipped in the security door behind a couple who were just leaving and took the elevator upstairs.

The door wasn't too far from the elevator, and I knocked on it slowly.

A woman opened it, and looked me over. "Can I help you?"

"Maybe, I was just dropped off here and told to come up to this apartment. I think I'm supposed to meet… someone here."

"Celeste." Billy came into view, looking relieved, and the woman moved aside a bit as Billy rushed to the door and pulled me into his arms. I hugged him back tightly, closing my eyes and letting the stress of everything that had happened wash away.

He pulled me inside and the woman shut the door.

"I'm Krista. Billy's psychiatrist." She introduced herself, looking sharply into my eyes.

"Celeste. Nice to meet you." I offered her my hand, and she gave it a quick shake.

"He didn't say he'd be inviting over… a friend." I was seeing just how forced her smile was, and faltered a little.

"In all fairness, I didn't know either. I was gonna just go home, I got picked up by one of his ex-military guys from the hospital."

"How bad was it?" Billy pushed some of my hair out of my face.

"Well I would've been a lot better if you hadn't built a DEATH TRAP. What the hell Billy?" I nudged him off a little.

"Some space?" He asked Krista, who left.

"First of all, you know where I live, you know my phone number, you could have warned me at any time that you had a giant death hallway in the basement." He tried to speak, but I cut him off, starting to rile up now. "Second, dammit Billy, you can't solve every problem you have with crime. I never questioned your mask fetish robbery gang, but murder is too far. You were going to kill Castle, weren't you?"

"I didn't mean for you -"

"I'm not done. Third, police questioned me about what happened, because apparently they found three dead hookers upstairs in front of Castle, and he sure as hell didn't kill them. I had to lie to the police for you, so now I'm an accessory. I could see jail if any of this ever gets to the cops, and I'm a stripper, I don't want to see what jail is like for me. Fourth, why were there dead hookers upstairs Billy? Did you kill them, to frame Castle in case he survived the hallway?"

"Celeste." He took my arms. "I never meant to involve you in this. I didn't think you were coming in."

"Great. That covers… half of two of my points?"

He sighed. "What do you want from me Celeste? I killed them. Shot them point blank in the head, before the fear even had time to set in and make them scream."

I took a slow step back from him, tears coming to my eyes. "Why?"

"I need Castle out of my way. He's not going to stop until he kills me."

"Maybe he's right to. I would, if I was him." He looked betrayed, but I just shook my head. "Don't. Let me guess, you picked hookers because they're disposable right? Not really people society cares about. Close enough to criminal. Where's the line between them and any of my coworkers? Or me?"

"I care about you."

"Not enough to warn me about the death trap, bringing me back to my first point! Billy, you can't defend this!"

"He's been arrested now. He's out of the way."

"Where the hell did this idea come from? You know what, I don't care. Just get the fuck out of my face. I'm going home. Don't you dare show up there again." I warned him, before throwing the door open, brushing tears out of my eyes before they could fall from my face.


	10. Chapter 10

I spent two days moping around at home. I didn't have to work, the other girls were more than understanding about my brush with death, and I'd done enough favours for them that my shifts were all covered.

The morning of the third day, I got an idea.

I did some research, and found out where the federal office Madani probably worked in was. As I was getting my bag though, I sighed and sat back down.

There was no way I could just march up to a federal office and say I wanted to talk to the Punisher.

I had a second idea, and did a little more digging.

An hour later, I was outside a small apartment building in the heart of downtown, looking up at a window with a flower vase on the sill.

I went inside, and upstairs to knock on the door.

"Just a minute!" A voice called, and a minute later Karen Page opened the door. "Can I help you? I'm running a bit late for work, so you'll have to make this quick."

"You're the writer behind all of the Daredevil and Punisher articles, right?" I had to double check.

"I am." She said slowly.

"I'm Celeste. I was at the Punisher warehouse attack a week ago. I need to talk to you, if you have a minute."

She debated for a second, then let me in. "This counts as work. Make yourself comfortable."

I walked in and sat down on the couch as she grabbed a notebook and pen, and sat in an armchair nearby.

"Is this all on the record?"

"It can be, in exchange for information."

"What kind of information?"

"I need to talk to Frank Castle. I have information about… the real killer, of those girls."

"What makes you think I can find him?"

"Hunch? Hope? I don't know how else to."

She sighed. "Answer some questions for me first."

"Sure. Okay."

"What were you doing there?"

"I'm a… I'm a stripper. Places to practice are expensive, and the warehouse had a room with a bunch of poles in it. I set it up with some mirrors and used it for a practice space. That day was pretty much like any other day for the past couple months, I was just showing up to practice. I saw Castle going downstairs on my way in and followed my dumb curiosity."

"You said you'd been going there for months. Had you ever seen anyone in the warehouse leading up to the attack?"

"I've been using the warehouse as a practice space for almost a year now. When I said that, I meant that's how long… there'd been other people using the building too. That I had to share with."

"Did they know you were there?"

I nodded. "They found me walking in one day. Said they were gonna kill me, in case I was a cop or something. I had to dance for… the leader, to prove I wasn't, I negotiated that he'd let me keep practicing there and not kill me in exchange for me not ratting them out to anyone."

"Are you worried about your safety right now?"

I slowly shook my head. "Things got more complicated, in a way that hopefully keeps me alive."

"Complicated how?"

"I think that the leader and I fell in love. It's… a complicated relationship, he paid me one time to try and seduce information out of a guy they kidnapped so they didn't torture him, he ended up being a child predator and they killed him, but I did that, and… they hired a bunch of strippers to perform at a party or something they were having and got me in the bunch, and… he didn't warn me about the hallway trap downstairs that I nearly ended up dying in. He saved me, but he didn't warn me, and… he killed the prostitutes that were in there. He told me so himself. That was two days ago, I've been crying at home since then."

Karen got all of that down, and stood to move her vase of flowers further out the window. "Do you know who it was? Name, address?"

I slowly nodded. "Russo."

"Billy Russo? This was him too?"

I nodded again. "Yeah. I'm guessing you know about him? Before and after the amnesia?"

She nodded. "There's a very good chance he was just using you. I'm sorry."

I sighed and curled up a little, and she sat next to me and put a hand on my arm. "I'm gonna make a call. See if I can't find Frank. You stay here. Do you need anything? Water, coffee?"

I shook my head, and she rubbed my arm a little before going to the next room.

She came back a half hour later. "He's on his way."

"Thank you."

"Of course. Just a few more questions, if you're okay?"

"Sure, of course." I sniffed and settled in a little.

She asked me for more details, of the attack and of what I knew about Billy and my history with him. I told her everything, every detail, everything that had happened between us. It felt so good to finally tell someone that I couldn't help it.

I only stopped when there was a knock at the door, and Karen got up to let in Castle and Madani, who pulled her gun when she saw me.

"Stop. She told me everything, she's here to help." Karen insisted to her immediately. Madani sighed and lowered her gun. "Here. I took notes, you can take pictures of them if you need to save it. Saves you from having to repeat yourself." She added to me, and I smiled gratefully.

Castle went to the window first, pulling the flowers back in, before turning to me. "What made you change your mind?"

"He… actually killed them. He looked me right in the eyes and told me he killed them before they even screamed. Not just that his guys did it, or that they did something to him… he did it, just to frame you."

"She's vulnerable right now Frank, be gentle." Karen muttered to him as she passed him to set a mug of coffee down and sit back in her armchair.

"I'm going after him. He's got something else planned, I'm going to take care of it soon. I'm putting him down, and he's not going to bother you again."

"I want to talk to him. If I'm there, if I can be there. If you're fighting and you have to kill him whatever, but… if it's possible, I want to… I want to say goodbye."

"Sure. If it's possible, I can let you do that. Just don't get in my way."

"I won't."

"It says here you know where he's staying?" Madani asked me, looking up from Karen's notes.

I nodded. "He's staying with a woman named Krista. She's his psychologist."

Madani slammed the book down. "I knew something was fishy about her."

"Go check out her place. Russo shouldn't be there now, he's on the other side of town." Castle ordered, and she put her gun away and nodded. "I'm gonna go head him off. Can you defend yourself?"

"I can, but I can't come with you right now if that's what you're asking. I have to work tonight."

"I'll come find you if I get him. Your address?"

I gave it to him, along with my phone number. "Just let me know."

"You got it. Let's go. Thanks Karen." He hugged her briefly, and she smiled a little before they left.

"Do you need a place to crash?" Karen offered.

"No thanks. My place should be good enough, until I head to work anyway." I stood, and she nodded.

"If you need anything, just call me, alright?"

"Alright. Thanks." I smiled a little, and she smiled back.


	11. Chapter 11

I went to work that night and did my best to put myself back in the mindset of work. I had two performances to do, and I'd been out long enough that I had to make them both good ones to compensate and get my bills paid.

My first performance went without a hitch, it wasn't a complicated routine, but it was a money maker.

I was about to step out for my second routine when I saw Castle slowly moving through the crowd. My mind raced, and I quickly realized there was only one reason he would be here if I hadn't told him where I worked.

Billy was here.

I took a deep breath and slowly stepped out, compensating with a luxurious strut that afforded me time to look out over the crowd.

I almost didn't spot Billy, nestled in a back corner booth staring at me over a drink. I made like I hadn't spotted him, luckily not making eye contact, and kept my gaze looking around until I centered on the pole.

With a deep breath, I started dancing, eyes moving to find the Punisher, whose eyes spotted me the same time I spotted him again.

I jumped up on to the pole and kicked my legs out right in Billy's direction, flipping to point there when he didn't get it, afraid to make my signal too overt.

He gave me a small nod in my peripheral as I twirled around, and started to make his way over, looking through the people to try and spot him.

As my performance was reaching climax, Castle still hadn't found Billy, hidden too well in the corner booth, and I groaned internally and thought about what to do.

With a flip I sent myself out into the crowd, moving straight for Billy, playing with the other guests haphazardly as they threw money my way.

Billy set his drink down, looking me over cautiously as I approached, and I straddled him and started going.

"Don't say a word." I growled as I briefly leaned into his ear. To my distress, the electricity I felt with him before hadn't gone, now it was just mixed with the hurt I felt, and I turned away from him to look for Castle.

When I spotted him I flipped my hair back, gesturing to Billy, and he understood, moving in but staying back while I was in the way.

I gestured with my eyes to the nearby exit before turning back to Billy.

The song ended and the next girl came out, distracting the audience, and I grabbed Billy by the collar.

"Come with me." I growled, practically dragging him out the exit.

My momentum pushed me against the alley wall, Billy slamming into me, and he grabbed my face and kissed me passionately.

I pushed him off and stepped away. "No. Not anymore. You don't get to kill innocent people and still have me."

"Then what do you want me here for?"

"She wants you here for me." Castle said behind him.

"Frank?" Billy checked, staring into my eyes.

His only response was Castle's gun cocking. "You said your piece to him?" He asked me.

Before I could reply Billy spun, grabbing me and holding me in front of him to block Castle's shot, and covered my mouth to block my scream.

"You betrayed me. You sold me out." He growled in my ear, and I tried to fight him off of me, to no avail. "I trusted you Celeste."

"Put her down Bill." Castle warned, aiming squarely down his gun.

"You won't shoot me through her. Now if you'll excuse me." He backed up, pulling a gun, and I screamed to warn Castle before Billy shot at him. My warning came in time, and Castle jumped out of the way, aiming at but missing his arm.

They started a shootout, Castle behind a dumpster and Billy holding me as a human shield.

"We're going on a trip." He growled to me, dragging me backwards.

There was no way in hell I was going with him, and I flailed and kicked to try and get out of his grip.

My leg finally found its mark, right in his shin, and he dropped me, throwing me towards Castle and running.

Castle caught me and helped me up. "You good?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Go put some clothes on. I'll get Bill."

I nodded and ran inside, throwing on enough clothes to be basically decent, and ran back out, in time to see Punisher get in a car and drive off.

A cab came up and I hailed it quickly, jumping in. "Follow that car, and I'll pay you 200." I promised, holding up a stack of ten 20$ bills.

The cab drove off and I sighed and settled in to the back seat, catching my breath.

Ten minutes in, we lost the car. "Sorry miss."

"It's fine. Keep heading this way a little more, just in case it's right ahead of us?"

He kept driving, but we still had no like. The poor guy looked tired, so I called it off and paid him, hopping out on a street I didn't recognize, but I had my phone with me so I pulled out the map and started my hour long walk home.


	12. Chapter 12

45 minutes later, I was pulling my shawl around me, wishing I'd had time to put on more clothes than the bra, shorts, and silk kimono/shawl I had on.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the car Castle had gotten into parked outside a nondescript building.

I ran up to it to check the license plate, and when it matched the one I remembered, I ran inside.

I saw Castle first, approaching the bloody and broken form of Billy who sat on the floor against a wall, slumped over like he was already dead.

They both looked up at the clicking of my heels on the floor, and I slowly walked in, giving Castle a small nod hello before approaching Billy, kneeling down in front of him.

"Billy?"

"Celeste."

"I…" I was lost for words, and now seeing him broken like this I couldn't help the tears that came to my eyes, nor the memories of all of the tender moments we had. "I'm sorry. I wanted to forgive you. I just… couldn't."

"Celeste." He reached out to me slowly, and I moved a little closer and took his hand.

"I'm here. You'll be alright."

"Why?" His eyes flicked to Castle before settling back on me.

"You killed innocent people, to try and kill a good man. I'm sorry Billy, I can't forgive that."

"I loved you." He choked a little, and I let out a small sob.

"I loved you too. God, I loved you. I really did."

"One last kiss for the road?" He tried, joking even in his state.

I leaned in and kissed him softly, and he wove his fingers into my hair gently, kissing back with so little energy that I knew he didn't have long. He'd accepted he was probably going to die here.

I finished and sighed softly.

"Go Celeste. Frank and I have unfinished business." He caressed my cheek.

I slowly stood and walked out, pausing by Castle. "If you can, make it painless?" I whispered.

"Go on." He nodded to the door, and I went out to the hallway and collapsed on to a bench, head in my hands.

I jumped when I heard the gunshot, and looked up when the door opened and Castle stepped out.

"He's dead." He confirmed to me calmly, and I stood and hugged him, burying my face in his chest to hide the sob that came to me.

To my surprise, he held me gently. "It's okay. You'll be okay."

I stood there for what felt like an hour, just crying into him, forgetting every word I wanted to say and putting them to my tears.

When I finally finished crying, I sniffed and looked up at him. "Thank you."

He nodded. "You gonna be alright? I don't want to have to put you down later when I find out you picked up where he left off."

I shook my head. "Kind of the opposite. I want to help you."

"You do?"

"You do good work. I… I wish Billy had been good enough to avoid it. You could use someone inside though. I'm a stripper, criminals love strippers. If you're still gonna be the Punisher after this, I can help you. If you want."

"Go home. Rest. See how you feel about it when you've gotten through your grief." I sighed and slowly nodded, pulling my robe around me. "Go on. I'll see you around."

He walked out, leaving me to compose myself before the rest of my walk home.

5 minutes from my place, I heard the sirens of police cars approach and whiz past me, headed for the building where Billy's body was. It finally sank in that this chapter of my life was over. Everything that had happened had just been a crazy few months in the years of life I had behind and ahead of me.

I got home and took a deep breath, looking around my place as if with new eyes. This was going to be an interesting future.


	13. Epilogue

It was a month later now. Work had been steady, nothing crazy but I was relieved for that. My personal life was quiet, but I had been going out for coffee with some of the girls from work every now and then.

I was about to settle in and watch a movie on my day off when there was a knock at my door.

I opened it to see Karen Page.

"Hi."

"Hey. I've got something for you." She reached into the large purse on her shoulder, and pulled out a small vase of fake flowers. "He said to tell you to put them on the window sill if you ever need to get in touch with him."

"Thank you." I smiled in disbelief, slowly taking the flowers from her.

"Welcome to the family." She smiled before walking away, and I slowly shut the door behind her.

The flowers were red and orange, in a plain brown vase, and looked like they'd been recently watered.

I took the vase over to my window, and after a moment of thinking, I put it out on the window sill.


End file.
